PTSD marijuana study for veterans stalled by feds

219 Woodside Ave.

Trenton, NJ 08618-3432

November 29, 2011

Congressman Rush Holt

1214 Longworth HOB

Washington, DC 20515

Dear Congressman Holt:

It is an outrage that veterans of the U.S. armed forces who are suffering from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are denied access to a clinical trial of marijuana after this trial has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Every 80 minutes a US military veteran commits suicide, far exceeding the national average for non-veterans. A few years ago, suicide passed combat fatalities as the leading cause of death among Viet Nam veterans, now numbering over 50,000. PTSD is a factor in most of those deaths.

The FDA approved the protocol from the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies for a clinical trial using combat veterans diagnosed with PTSD which is resistant to conventional therapies. The study is designed to see if medical marijuana can have a beneficial effect on PTSD, as a great deal of evidence suggests. However, the federal government has a monopoly on the only supply of marijuana permitted to be used in medical research. On September 16, 2011, the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) refused to release the marijuana necessary for this FDA-approved clinical trial to proceed, even though the study is privately funded and would cost taxpayers nothing.

Our veterans deserve the best treatment available for their combat-related disabilities. Please help to get this research back on track.

Sincerely yours,

Ken Wolski, RN, MPA, Executive Director

Coalition for Medical Marijuana--New Jersey, Inc.

609.394.2137

ohamkrw@aol.com

www.cmmnj.org

NJ DHSS adopts rules for Medicinal Marijuana Program

The New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) announced on its web site this week (http://www.state.nj.us/health/medicalmarijuana/) that it has filed a Notice of Adoption with the Office of Administrative Law. What this means is that the DHSS has formally responded to all of the public comments it has received about its proposed Medicinal Marijuana Program and it has submitted the final, adopted rules to the New Jersey Register for publication.

Unfortunately for patients, physicians, caregivers, ATC operators, family members and medical marijuana advocates, the DHSS has decided not to change a single thing in its 100 plus pages of rules that have been the subject of much criticism and impassioned public comment. The proposed rules will be adopted virtually unchanged. Read it and weep: http://www.state.nj.us/health/medicalmarijuana/documents/medical_marijuana_proposal.pdf

The 10% cap on THC potency, the limit of 3 strains of marijuana that will be available, the physician registry, and the micromanagement of ATCs including the arbitrary zoning requirements will all stay in the final version of the adopted rules.

The only changes in the rules were in a seperate proposal from the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners. To their credit, the BME was responsive to one criticism and they dropped the requirement that doctors had to periodically wean their patients off marijuana. The BME also said that the marijuana education requirements for physicians were under review. It is hoped that the new education requirements will have something to do with the Endocannabinoid System, that is, how marijuana actually works in the human body.

The DHSS says that it is "committed to the effective implementation of the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act to make medicinal marijuana available as soon as possible, while ensuring the integrity of the program." If that is the case, they are certainly going about it the wrong way.

Marijuana experts have been completely excluded from meaningful participation in the development of this program. No wonder the DHSS had problems. It was like trying to build a bridge without using bridge engineers.

The Coalition for Medical Marijuana--New Jersey has already despaired of seeing any kind of meaningful Medicinal Marijuana Program during the Christie administration. The DHSS rules are designed to provide poor quality marijuana to very few patients at very high cost--if the program ever gets working at all. The physician registry has dissuaded all but 1% of New Jersey licensed physicians from participating in the program. The zoning rules imposed by DHSS have caused outrage in local communities when ATCs or their greenhouses attempt to locate there.

The unresponsiveness of the DHSS to the public comments and to the welfare of patients is a disgrace. It remains to be seen whether the legislature will act to save its own law which passed nearly two years ago, but has yet to see a single patient legally protected. The legislature has already agreed that the proposed rules from the DHSS were inconsistent with the legislative intent of the Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act. The legislature gave the DHSS adequate time and good faith to amend these rules. The DHSS has failed to do so. Now, the legislature must complete its work and invalidate these rules.

ATC Meeting Rescheduled Due to Overcrowding

NJ.com reports that the medical marijuana meeting in Upper Freehold Township (UFT) scheduled for Thurs., 11/17/11 was canceled due to overcrowding. The crowd, both proponents and opponents, along with half a dozen state troopers and a slew of media, exceeded the 80-person capacity of the room.

The Township Committee, on the advice of its lawyer said the meeting would be rescheduled to the Tuesday before Thanksgiving at 7 PM, either at the local high school or the first aid squad building.

Breakwater Alternative Treatment Center has plans to locate its marijuana production facility on preserved farmland here. Concerns that neighbors voiced had to do with security and lower property values.

On the other hand, Ralph Gale, a farmer who lived right next door (next field?) to the proposed ATC had no trouble with it. Allentown resident Rachel Cotrino voiced strong support for the ATC being sited in her township. Also noted in the audience was outspoken medical marijuana advocate Don McGrath, whose property borders UFT. Multiple sclerosis (MS) patient Chuck Kwiatkowski came to say how marijuana is more effective than any other drug in allowing him to overcome the devastating symptoms of MS, and perform the simple activities of daily living. He spoke to the news media instead of the committee.

There is a lot of fear about marijuana that is caused by misinformation. The people who are opposed to the ATCs seem to believe that marijuana is a foreign and toxic substance that may soon be introduced into their township. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Monitoring the Future survey has shown, for the last thirty years in a row, that nearly all high school seniors in New Jersey have found marijuana “easy to get” or “fairly easy to get.” The only people who lack consistent and reliable access to marijuana are legitimate patients.

The security that is mandated by the State of New Jersey for these ATCs can best be described as “over-reactive.” It is far greater security than is required of pharmacies, liquor stores and bars, all of which carry far more dangerous and addicting drugs than marijuana.

The opposition’s concern about dropping property values is laughable, considering the collapse of the “housing bubble.” The ATC is regulated to be discreet, professional and secure.

Moreover, this opposition to a tightly regulated production facility for a medicinal herb is most cruel. It is certain to result in continued delay in bringing marijuana’s therapeutic relief to our state’s most desperately ill. It is certain to cause harm to patients.

The only question is why state officials won’t appear at these local meetings to allay the fears of the communities? Barring that, the state should finish the zoning rules it started in its extensive set of regulations and establish that ATCs may be permitted in any zone that allows pharmacies.

ATC Seeks Support in Upper Freehold

Breakwater Alternative Treatment Center will be facing a lot of opposition in Upper Freehold Township when they discuss their plans for a medical marijuana production facility at a Township Committee Meeting on Thursday, November 17 starting at 6:00 PM.

The meeting will take place at 314 ROUTE 539, CREAM RIDGE, NJ 08514 TELE: 609-758-7738.

There has already been considerable local concern and discussion.

http://novozinsky.com/

Allentown Upper Freehold Township NJ Neighborhood Page

Dr. Curtis Byrnes, a local physician, has asked to be heard regarding Breakwater ATC locating in Upper Freehold Township (UFT). Dr. Byrnes has written an Open Letter where he says that there will be "Adverse effects on property values and rising local police costs" should Breakwater be allowed to locate in UFT.

Andrew Zaleski from Breakwater Alternative Treatment Center has reached out to patients who could benefit from medical marijuana and invited them to testify at the meeting. He believes the focus of the meeting will be on crime (security issues), home values and medicinal value of medical marijuana.

The meeting promises to be lively.

Contact info for Andrew Zaleski:

Office: 732.703.7300
Website: www.breakwateratc.org

Email: andrewbreakwateratc@gmail.com

Ken Wolski, RN, MPA
Executive Director
Coalition for Medical Marijuana--New Jersey, Inc. www.cmmnj.org
219 Woodside Ave.
Trenton, NJ 08618
609.394.2137
ohamkrw@aol.com

CMMNJ November 2011 Agenda & Sept. Minutes

Monthly Public Meeting Agenda
855 Berkeley Ave., Trenton, NJ 08618 (Note new meeting place for Nov., 2011 meeting)
Tuesday, November 8, 2011; 7:00 PM -- 9:00 PM

7:00 PM: Call meeting to order. Approve October 2011 minutes. Discuss:

NJ's Medicinal Marijuana Program update. Maple Shade Zoning Board rejects state’s first ATC, 10/12. Federal crackdown continues. CMMNJ Board supports A4252 which decriminalizes 15 grams or less of marijuana in NJ. CA Med. Assn. supports legalization.

Rally to support medical marijuana patient Ed Forchion (See NJWeedman video) at Burlington Co. Superior Court, Mt Holly, 10/18 & 10/20 at 9 am. Trial (& further rallies) delayed until April 10, 2012. Updates on the Colleen Begley trial and John Wilson’s Supreme Court appeal.

Upcoming events: Major CMMNJ fund raiser planned for Feb. 24 & 25, 2012. Save the dates!

NEWS12 TV re: NJ Monthly article, 11/9; Ramapo College lecture 11/10 1 – 2 pm; Screening of “What if Cannabis Cured Cancer?” 217 E. 42^nd St., NY, 11/10 at 6 pm, Q&A with Ken to follow. NORML NJ meeting on 11/14 at 7 pm.

Recent events: “Medical Marijuana Update” for Bayada Nurses, Overlook Hospital, Summit, NJ, 10/19. “NJ Monthly” article, “Weeding Out The Pain,” Nov. 2011. Community Fest TCNJ 10/29; NORML NJ meetings 2^nd Monday of each month, 7:00 pm. Home Grown Radio interview, 10/25.

Treasury report: Checking: $3773; PayPal: $3072. Make a tax-deductible donation to CMMNJ, a 501(c)(3) public charity. Use Paypal on our web site, or send a check to "CMMNJ" to the address below. Get a free t-shirt for a donation above $15—specify size.

All other CMMNJ meetings are the second Tuesday of each month from 7 - 9 PM at the Lawrence Twp. Library, 2751 Brunswick Pike, Lawrence Twp., Tel. #609.882.9246. All are welcome. (Meeting at the library does not imply their endorsement of our issue.)

For more info, contact: Ken Wolski, RN, MPA, Executive Director, Coalition for Medical Marijuana—New Jersey, Inc. 219 Woodside Ave., Trenton, NJ 08618 (609) 394-2137 ohamkrw@aol.com www.cmmnj.org

Monthly Public Meeting Minutes

Tuesday, October 11, 2011; 7:00 PM -- 9:00 PM

7:00 PM: Call meeting to order. July 2011 minutes approved. Discussion:

After a three-month delay, NJ's Medicinal Marijuana Program is NOT moving forward “expeditiously.” Only about 100 doctors have registered with DHSS. No ATC’s open yet; Maple Shade Zoning Board meeting 10/12. Jim to attend. No ID cards issued yet. Some ATC applicants are appealing the awards process. IRS crackdown on Harborside dispensary in CA.

CMMNJ Board votes to support A4252 which decriminalizes 15 grams of marijuana in NJ.

John Wilson released from state prison on bail pending NJ Supreme Court appeal. John suffered an MS setback while in prison—numbness from his nipple line down is now persistent. NJ medical marijuana patient, activist & CMMNJ volunteer Colleen Begley faces prison term. Ed Forchion, “NJWeedman” trial slated for 10/18/11; seeks to have drug charges dropped. Rally planned at Burlington Co. Superior Court to support Forchion 10/18 at 9 am.

Recent events: Community Day, Lawrence Twp, 10/2/11; Great Midwest Harvest Festival, Madison, WI, Oct. 1 & 2. Boston Freedom Rally, 9/17/11.

Upcoming events: Community fest TCNJ 10/29; “Medical Marijuana Update” for Bayada Nurses, Overlook Hospital, Summit, NJ, 10/19, 9:00 am. “NJ Monthly” article on medical marijuana in the Nov. 2011 issue. NORML NJ meetings 2^nd Monday of each month, 7:00 pm.

Treasury report: Checking: $3881; PayPal: $3072. .

CMMNJ's meetings are the second Tuesday of each month from 7 - 9 PM. The meeting in November 2011 will be held at 855 Berkeley Ave., Trenton, NJ 08618. All other meetings are held at the Lawrence Twp. Library, 2751 Brunswick Pike, Lawrence Twp., Tel. #609.882.9246. All are welcome. (Meeting at the library does not imply their endorsement of our issue.) For more info, contact:

Ken Wolski, RN, MPA, Executive Director, Coalition for Medical Marijuana—New Jersey, Inc. 219 Woodside Ave., Trenton, NJ 08618 (609) 394-2137 ohamkrw@aol.com www.cmmnj.org

Corporate cannabis comes to Burlington County

Posted: Sunday, October 16, 2011 12:45 am

http://www.phillyburbs.com/my_town/mount_holly/corporate-cannabis-comes-to-burlington-county/article_e5725e95-e90c-55ab-8794-5e380411def4.html?mode=print

Two of the approved medical marijuana alternative treatment centers for New Jersey are exploring Burlington County locations. But will they have any customers?

Gov. Chris Christie and the Department of Health and Senior Services have imposed many new restrictions on the compassionate cannabis program that were not included in the original 2010 law. Among Christie's draconian regulations is a 10 percent cap on THC content, prohibition of home delivery, and imposing the nation's first registry for doctors. Out of 30,000 physicians in the Garden State, only about 100 have joined the program.

By the way, the New Jersey marijuana doctor list is not being made public. And those terrible regulations have not actually been finalized by DHSS another potential snag for any municipal blessings.

But the law itself passed with a major flaw: Of the 16 states with medical cannabis provisions, New Jersey was the first to continue the prohibition for registered patients growing their own or forming collective gardens. The no-home-grow concept was introduced by Burlington County Assemblyman Herb Conaway and forces all approved patients into the ATCs to buy their marijuana. In their DHSS applications, the ATCs plan to charge the same as street prices.

Compassionate Sciences has tens of millions of dollars to invest, along with deep political connections in Trenton and in mainstream corporate health care. The group has projections for serving thousands of patients in their first year of operation ... as if they will have the only pot in New Jersey. But their biggest competition is the prodigious amount of medical-grade marijuana that is already available underground—no registry required.

Christie pledged to have legal marijuana to qualifying residents by the end of 2011, but since it's October and there are no seeds planted, that is already another broken promise. News also surfaced last week of a retooled federal crackdown on medical cannabis businesses.

Doctors, nurses and seriously ill residents know that marijuana is effective. Their testimony is why the law was passed. Rather than buy the high-priced/low-potency pot from the corporate ATCs, most patients will likely stay underground. This is where seriously ill residents have been left for the last two years already.

If the New Jersey Legislature really wants to create safe access without federal interference, it is time to put patient/caregiver cultivation back into the medical marijuana law.

Chris Goldstein

Board of directors, Coalition for Medical Marijuana--New Jersey

Riverside

Medical Marijuana Needed for MS Patients

Opinion - Letters to the Editor

WRITTEN BY CHARLES KWIATKOWSKI

TUESDAY, 18 OCTOBER 2011 16:20

Dear Editors of the Atlantic Highlands Herald, I am writing this in reply to the recent article of the Maple Shade location being rejected for medical marijuana in NJ. This Maple Shade-mistake is just another example of Gov. Christie’s failed effort of leadership to help the seriously ill residents of NJ with more to surely follow. If every location in NJ rejects the Medical Marijuana Law, then what does that say about law in general? Only a former US Prosecutor would know that once he found his perfect answer with the failure proposed earlier for Rutgers to control medical marijuana. He can now use this same excuse in every township that applies to control medical marijuana in NJ. As an MS Patient of 15 years, I am forced to stick with risking my life on the streets obtaining the only relief to treat my disease. Until your loved one is in so much pain that it causes pain to the entire family, one could never understand how important medical marijuana is for the seriously ill. At this rate of failure, I can only expect to finally receive medical marijuana long after the next Governor takes Gov Christie’s place. Hopefully it will be a Mom? She'll have my vote. Only a mother can understand how painful it is when your loved one lives in neuropathic pain an spasms. The only way this will ever get off the ground is the way it started in many other states with collective groups of patients and 1-2 caregivers growing marijuana for them. That may take more time for humanity to fully digest the science of medical marijuana CBD therapy for MS patients which has always been a proven treatment for MS. Even the MS Society now recognizes that medical marijuana can slow or even prevent future neuronal damage to the bodies central nervous system. Why would an MS patient use any other therapy? Sincerely, Charles Kwiatkowski Hazlet, NJ

http://www.ahherald.com/opinion-mainmenu-30/letters-to-the-editor/11883-medical-marijuana-needed-for-ms-patients

Protest planned for NJ medical marijuana patient who faces seven years in prison

WHO: NJ medical marijuana patient and activist Ed Forchion (AKA Njweedman)

WHAT: Demonstration to protest the prosecution for his use of marijuana

WHEN: October 18, 2011, 9 AM

WHERE: Superior Court of Burlington County, Mount Holly, New Jersey

WHY: We must give full faith and credit to the laws of other states, as well as to the diagnoses and treatment plans of licensed physicians from other states

Supporters plan to protest the prosecution of medical marijuana patient Ed Forchion (AKA Njweedman), who faces seven years in a New Jersey prison for his use of marijuana here. The protest is planned for 9 am on Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2011 outside Superior Court of Burlington County, 49 Rancocas Rd., Mount Holly, NJ. Jury selection for Forchion’s trial is scheduled to begin on Thursday, October 20, 2011. Forchion was arrested last year when he was found by a State Trooper to be driving a car that allegedly had a pound of marijuana in it.

Forchion is a card-carrying medical marijuana patient from California. He has the legal right to purchase, use, possess and even cultivate marijuana in California, due to his medical condition. But New Jersey’s restrictive medical marijuana law does not recognize ID cards from out-of-state. New Jersey’s Medicinal Marijuana Program is not even up and running despite going into effect one year ago this month. Sixteen states and the District of Columbia have laws protecting medical marijuana patients.

Forchion describes in his book, “Public Enemy 420—The Tale of an African American Marijuana Activist,” (available on his website, http://home.njweedman.com/) his painful tumor growing out of a bone near his knee, which is a medical condition similar to that of Irvin Rosenfeld. The federal government has been supplying Rosenfeld with 300 marijuana joints every month for the past 25 years for this condition, as part of the Investigational New Drug (IND) study. The IND study is not available to Forchion as it has been closed to new applicants since 1992, after it was flooded with applications. The IND study was a victim of its own success.

Ken Wolski, RN, Executive Director of the Coalition for Medical Marijuana--New Jersey (CMMNJ), urges demonstrators to tell the judge that Ed Forchion is not guilty. “He is a patient, using his medicine from out-of-state. We must give full faith and credit to the laws of other states, as well as to the diagnoses and treatment plans of licensed physicians from other states,” Wolski said.

CMMNJ, a 501(c)(3) public charity, is a non-profit organization whose mission is to educate the public about the benefits of safe and legal access to medical marijuana. For more info, contact:

Ken Wolski, RN, MPA
Executive Director
Coalition for Medical Marijuana--New Jersey, Inc. www.cmmnj.org
219 Woodside Ave.
Trenton, NJ 08618
609.394.2137
ohamkrw@aol.com

NJ Medical Marijuana Patient Faces Seven Years in Prison

WHO: NJ medical marijuana patient and activist Ed Forchion (AKA NJWEEDMAN)

WHAT: Faces 7 years in prison for his use of marijuana

WHEN: October 18, 2011

WHERE: Superior Court of Burlington County, Mount Holly, NJ

WHY: Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act fails to recognize out-of-state ID cards

Medical marijuana patient Ed Forchion (AKA NJWEEDMAN) faces seven years in a New Jersey prison for his use of marijuana here. His trial opens Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2011 in Superior Court of Burlington County in Mount Holly, NJ. Forchion was arrested on April 1, 2010 when he was found by a State Trooper to be driving a rented car that allegedly had a pound of marijuana in it.

Forchion is a card-carrying medical marijuana patient from California. He has the legal right to purchase, use, possess and even cultivate marijuana in California, due to his medical condition. But New Jersey’s restrictive medical marijuana law does not recognize medical marijuana ID cards from out-of-state. It does not matter what condition Forchion suffers from. New Jersey’s Medicinal Marijuana Program is not even up and running despite going into effect one year ago this month. Forchion, a dual resident of New Jersey and California, runs a medical marijuana dispensary in Hollywood, called “Liberty Bell Temple.”

Forchion has a painful tumor growing out of a bone near his knee, which is the medical condition that qualifies him for marijuana use in California. Irvin Rosenfeld has a similar condition and the federal government has been supplying Rosenfeld with 300 marijuana joints every month for over 25 years. Rosenfeld claims in his book, “My Medicine” that marijuana, and marijuana alone, has kept him alive and a productive member of society. Rosenfeld is part of the federal government’s Investigational New Drug (IND) study. The IND study is not available to Forchion as this study has been closed to new applicants since 1992.

“It is an outrage that Forchion faces many years in prison for this, and that it does not even matter why he was using marijuana,” said Ken Wolski, RN, Executive Director of the Coalition for Medical Marijuana--New Jersey (CMMNJ). CMMNJ plans a demonstration to protest his prosecution outside the Superior Court of Burlington County, 49 Rancocas Rd., Mount Holly, NJ on Oct. 18, 2011 at 9 am.

CMMNJ, a 501(c)(3) public charity, is a non-profit organization whose mission is to educate the public about the benefits of safe and legal access to medical marijuana. For more info, contact:

Ken Wolski, RN, MPA,

Executive Director, Coalition for Medical Marijuana--New Jersey, Inc. www.cmmnj.org

219 Woodside Ave., Trenton, NJ 08618

609.394.2137 ohamkrw@aol.com